Comments from Vandy’s win at Ole Miss

A shot of optimism is just what the doctor ordered as the Commodores head into their bye week fresh off a 28-14 victory in Oxford, Miss.

Vanderbilt will attempt to parlay its success at Ole Miss into another win at UCONN on Oct. 2 and even its record at 2-2.

Here are some of the leftover comments from Coach Robbie Caldwell and his players Saturday:

Robbie Caldwell

Initial thoughts …

“We came here on a business trip. That’s what we designated it as. It was a quick turnaround. We had pre-game meal at 7 this morning. On the bus, the bus broke down. We had to pile everybody on the other buses. They could have found every excuse to not fight hard, to throw their hands in the air, but they didn’t.

“Defense played great. Offense, we didn’t have a whole lot of yards, but we rushed for about 240. Outstanding. We made first downs when we had to. I couldn’t be more proud of them. Special teams, it was a complete effort. The punt team just did an extraordinary job keeping them backed up.”

On the importance of a win …

“We never got down. We know we should have won one other, and we possibly had a chance to win the other. We know that. Everybody has pointed it out to us on many occasions as well. I always appreciate the help from the outside, too. But these guys just kept working. We’re a family and we pay attention to what’s said inside. That’s the most important thing.”

On winning the turnover battle 3-0 …

“The defense works hard everyday to create turnovers. We try to create them in practice, from fumbles to interceptions to ever how we can get the ball. It’s funny. We just talked about it on the sideline (before Eddie Foster intercepted Jeremiah Masoli and returned it 21 yards for a touchdown). Let’s get us a turnover here and set the offense up. Not only did we do that, we carried it in and scored. Casey Hayward almost had one earlier. We had talked about that all week. We thought we may could get one and then he almost did.”

On the heat …

“We thought maybe we would be in pretty good shape. We had an awful hot fall camp, so we were not intimidated by the heat. But if you don’t make first downs (with a hurry-up offense), it backfires. We understand that, we were prepared for that and we practice that way. Fortunately, today we were able to make some first downs.”

On breaking two TD runs off the dive on the option …

“We tried to keep them off-balance. We ran the ball inside. We ran it outside. We ran some option. We made a big read there. Larry did a good job reading and no one took the dive and Warren took off with it and took it to the house.

“It was off an option read. Someone has to take the dive, someone the pitch and someone the quarterback. We had hoped to create a little confusion with movement. I know it’s a basic thing. I’m sure they made a mistake, and that’s what you hope happens.”

On stopping the Ole Miss running backs on third-and-1 …

“Our defensive front is pretty stout. The biggest thing they’ve learned to do is play with their pads down. They’ve been able to counteract some big linemen.”

Defensive tackle Rob Lohr

On Masoli …

“We just tried to keep him contained. Being a good athlete, he got outside. But we had a scheme that would hopefully give him no plays inside the tackles.”

Cornerback Eddie Foster

On his interception and TD return …

“We had a three-deep coverage. (Masoli) started to roll out and I kind of saw him eyeing it down so I thought I was going to break on it and I just took it. He threw it a little bit late, so I got there just in time. I honestly didn’t think I was going to make it.”

On the emotional lift his TD provided …

“I can’t explain it. It felt great to be able to help the team like that. The biggest thing was we had to keep playing the game. We had 30 or 40 minutes left in the game.”

On being able to read Masoli in the passing game …

“We had a feeling we were going to make some plays on defense. We had a feeling we had that game in the bag if we just did our job.”

Running back Warren Norman

On the success with the option …

“It’s almost like a triple option because me, Larry (Smith) or Zac (Stacy) can keep the ball. Having to guard all three of us at once is always a great play. It’s worked for us all year.”

On playing with the lead …

“I don’t think the game plan changed any. Coaches didn’t say anything about, you know, let’s just try to kill the clock. It was like we’re going to take some shots still, we’re going to still do what we’ve been doing and hopefully score some more points.”

Running back Zac Stacy

On the advantages of a two-back set …

“It just creates mismatches, especially on linebackers. I think there was one play where I went out and caught a pass. It’s really just to create mismatches on linebackers and get us out in open space.”

On the importance of a win …

“Anytime you win, period, it always feels good. It feels like we just got a big monkey off our shoulders.”

Quarterback Larry Smith

On the offensive line bouncing back from the loss to LSU …

“Offensive line did an excellent job, had an excellent week of practice. We were pretty much ready for anything they were going to throw at us. They did a real good job of getting those guys open to run for those touchdowns. It finally came together. Hopefully we can continue that in two weeks against UCONN.”

On the effectiveness of the hurry-up offense in the second quarter …

“We knew they had those big two guys, the D-tackles, and we knew we could get them tired if we bettered the pace of the game. We did an excellent job of that, getting to the ball, hurrying up and it proved to be a key factor in our victory.”

Linebacker Chris Marve

On Masoli …

“He’s a mobile guy. We planned on containing him, getting pressure to him and just not letting him being able to set his feet and make good decisions. I feel like we did a good job the majority of the time.”

On the key stops in third- and fourth-and-short situations …

“We were last in rushing (defense in the SEC) last year and we’ve made a lot of strides in our rush defense. We take pride in our rush defense and we had to come down here and get after them. That’s what we did.”

About The Author

Jeff Lockridge

I have been on the Vanderbilt beat since 2009, at The Tennessean since 2000 and a sports journalist since 1997. Prior to Vanderbilt, I covered primarily high schools from 2000-09. My reporting history also includes stints covering the Titans, Auburn and minor league baseball. I'm a Nashville native and a graduate of Overton High (1993) and Austin Peay (1997). I live in Fr